


A Diplomatic Incident

by CellarSpider



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21956140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CellarSpider/pseuds/CellarSpider
Summary: The young Imperial diplomat Vector Hyllus receives a special assignment on Alderaan.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

He'd been recalled to the embassy at the Thul estate for a meeting with Counselor Baltran today. There'd been no word about why, which was enough to give him a low buzz of nervousness. But it also meant he could send a message to Anora.

She'd been assigned to the high commission on Serenno, a fascinating planet she'd been happy to get involved with. At first they'd been stationed relatively close to each other, though the paths a first contact vessel took were often slow, methodical series of jumps through relatively uncharted space. Still, when they'd had the chance to meet once every few months, and their messages to each other never left the relatively permissive jurisdiction of the Empire's Outer Rim territories. They'd been separated, but they could still keep in regular contact.

Then he'd been reassigned to Alderaan. A Core Founder of the Republic, and one of the oldest known human worlds besides. Anora had been jealous of that. He'd promised to tell her everything about the place, but now their messages were traveling through space that was _absolutely_ unfriendly to the Empire. Before it even left the planet, your words were going to be monitored by the Thuls, Organas, their Republic allies, and a dozen other interests local and galactic. Control of information was paramount, and so personal transmissions could only be made through the embassy itself.

And that subjected them to some of the strictest censorship on the Imperial Holonet. Both of them had to choose their words carefully, and had to be patient with each other. Sometimes a holo could get hung up waiting for review, or it might never get sent at all. Often when a message did get through, what survived the censors was comically brief. Anora had saved one to show him, when they'd been lucky enough to schedule overlapping leave: He'd sent her almost ten minutes of personal updates, but all she'd received was a hacked up mess that lasted barely five seconds: _"Hello--the Empire always--comes first--I love you, Anora. Take care."_

If nothing else, it had given them both a laugh. But since then, he'd kept his messages more brief, and tried to keep to a delicate dance of acceptable speech without sacrificing too much real emotion. Still, after 'the Empire always comes first', they made a point to secretly have some fun at the censors' expense.

"First, I love you," he said to the recorder, and he couldn't help but smile. "We're all doing well, and I'd like to think the people here are benefiting from out help." Could he say anything about the new snowfall on the nearby Juran Mountains? No, probably not. But he wished she could see it. Maybe he'd be allowed to bring a picture home. 

He couldn't really talk about _anything_ , but the contact was what mattered the most. That was the core of why they were both in the Diplomatic Service, wasn't it? Establishing contact with people, connection, _importance_ to one another. She was so important to him, and it made his chest ache just to think about it.

But he still couldn't say anything more. "I can't wait to see you again." Was that going to be permitted? Maybe? The censors didn't seem to like mention of things you didn't have, but wished for. 

He'd had more planned, but now he wasn't sure he could say any of it. Best to try and get a whole message through, however short it might be. The choppiness of the censors' cuts could make it hard to relate to each other.

"I love you, Anora." A short message could at lest contain some coherent emotion, and force him to stick to what really mattered. "Take care."

He cut the message, and sighed. ...Had it been odd to say "I love you" twice, and so close together? Maybe. He didn't know. Better send it anyway, before he started to overthink it. He pressed a button, and off the recording went, all ten seconds of it, to sit in the buffer until a censor could decide if it should reach Anora or not.

Maybe this mysterious meeting with the counselor would be a blessing, even if the outcome was poor. He wasn't an expert on Alderaan. Maybe if he were reassigned, he could be back to the Outer Rim. Somewhere less vital to strategic interests, less prestigious, but closer to Anora. Her career had better long-term prospects than his, and he wanted to support her. Maybe they could...

No sense thinking about it now. He had some review of his notes to do, to make sure he was as ready as he could be. He left the communications hub, finding a free spot to sit and distract himself with organizing files for a while, and not think about proposing until the moment was right.


	2. Chapter 2

"Come in."

Counselor Baltran was brusque with just about everyone, but that masked a surprising persuasiveness to her. A perfect example of how the Empire liked to operate.

"Thank you, Counselor." He bowed his head slightly, taking a seat in the single chair placed opposite her desk. It was a little shorter than hers, he could tell. The room wasn't a truly hostile space, just  _ isolated  _ from where he sat. He'd prepared, though--run through all his files and observations on House Cortess, and how their ties to certain recalcitrant Thul vassals were being managed to increase the Empire's influence and stabilize the region.

"There's been reports of increasing Killik activity across the Kaamos Territory. What's your assessment of Cortess' response?"

Ah. That wasn't entirely unexpected, but not what he'd focused on in his review. "Baron Peyar has been leaning into the Cortess traditional imagery as Sword of the Castle Lands," he said, pulling together details from memory as he went. "And the Order of Extermination has been lobbying them extensively to donate household troops. They're not on board yet, and they could be pushed either way."

The counselor grunted. "The military attaché will handle that. We've been caught in the swamp of  _ managing expectations _ , and we need to get out of it." He had no idea where this was going now. The current Killik cycle of activity had been ongoing for several years now, and despite the daily incursions faced by the common people, the High Houses were still largely focused on the Civil War.

"How should we shift our messaging, sir?"

She smiled thinly. "We're shifting targets altogether. The Killiks are believed to be intelligent, but no one has been able to dissuade them from repeated provocation of the Alderaanians and raids on our troops."

This was  _ very  _ unexpected. "The Service intends to mediate with them?"

"No. We're not at that stage yet. Channels haven't been established at all." His heart was beating harder against his ribs. Did she mean--?

She glanced at a datapad on her desk, open to his profile. "You have First Contact experience, and a consistent track record. This will technically be a First Contact mission. I'm assigning you to the project, along with a security detail. Your thoughts?"

He was honestly stunned. Excited, but stunned. _ Don't freeze up _ . He had to work through the practical details first. He was going to be sent out on direct diplomacy, direct communication. First Contact usually meant no common language or frame of reference, so one had to return to basics. "We'll need to have gifts prepared," he said, glancing away from the Counselor, giving himself just another second to think. "High-calorie food, most likely. And their Joiners are going to be the best targets for opening a dialog, but they're relatively rare." He looked back up at her. "There have been some Cortess guards reported missing after Killik incursions in the past few months. Have any of our forces spotted them among the Joiners?"

She nodded, with the distinct air that she'd anticipated his thinking. "I don't have the details on hand," he doubted that. "But yes. The Killiks near House Cortess seem more intent on taking captives than most. They may be vulnerable, and looking to bolster their numbers. That gives us an opportunity to leverage our position."

"I'm not certain of that, Counselor," he said carefully. "The Killiks have an extremely high reproductive rate. Cortess and Thul forces in the area have been taking defensive actions only so far, rather than targeting the main nests. The hive can replenish those losses. It may instead be a question of collective character."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "Continue."

"Alderaanian observations repeatedly make reference of regional variants in Killik morphology and behavior," he said, growing a little more confident. "Certain hives are especially aggressive, and remain this way regardless of changing circumstance. Others focus on resource-gathering and are quick to withdraw from contested areas. The Cortess hives have only started incursions within the past year. They may be… curious, for lack of a better term. They can learn about the local human population by Joining people. It may be a reach, sir, but they may be in the process of deciding what kind of hive they are going to be."

The counselor was silent for a long moment, and a little nervousness started to creep in again. He spoke up. "In short, if we are going to begin an outreach project to the Killiks, I agree that Cortess lands would be a strong candidate to start with."

Still nothing, her eyes focused somewhere past the files on her desk, expression unreadable. The rest of the diplomatic mission here was one hundred percent focused on human relations. Even the key staff likely had little training beyond that, apart from a handful of required academic modules during training. First Contact specialists could end up sounding  _ eccentric _ , and he knew that. But you had to be, to bridge the gap to others whose brains literally didn't work like yours.

Finally, she stirred. "You've obviously put thought into this already. Compile your notes on the subject and submit them to the project files. You'll have access as soon as we're done here. Your security clearance is going to be adjusted as well: no one without an operational stake is to know about this project until we have results." She finally looked back at him. "Any questions?"

Many. But he had to stick to the most practical ones. "Given the hive's tendency to Join those they come in contact with, what precautions are we taking against this?"

"You'll receive a briefing from the medical staff on the subject," she replied. "But I'm given to understand they've worked out a maximum safe exposure time. Make sure you can extract from contact no later than the limit they give you, and return to medical for a daily check-in." She huffed slightly. "It's excessive, but keeping our alien specialist human is priority number one."

She straightened up slightly in her chair, clasping her hands on the desk. She'd been slouching, almost imperceptibly, but now she was back to her usual implacable state. "If that's all, you're dismissed. The briefings should cover everything else you need to know."

That was that, then. He stood, bowing his head. "Thank you, sir. I'm looking forward to the assignment."

She didn't even blink. "Make the Empire proud."


End file.
